Identification – ForensicDentistryOnlinehttp://www.forensicdentistryonline.org
Trusted Odontology for over 15 yearsSun, 24 Feb 2019 17:11:00 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.10German authorities raise concern over dental age estimationhttp://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/german-authorities-raise-concern-over-dental-age-estimation/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/german-authorities-raise-concern-over-dental-age-estimation/#respondFri, 05 Jan 2018 14:51:59 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/?p=10763This piece from the BBCfurthers the concern among Europeans about the use of dental (and medical) information to age individuals in asylum or immigration cases. While there is a clear need to be sure of an individual’s age – especially if they are to be placed in children’s settings – its apparent that dental and medical methods just aren’t accurate enough.

Dental age’s look great when populations are being assessed, but for any given individual the standard deviations (or variance) of the estimates can be huge – over 5 years in some cases. So a 13 year old could be 18 and vice versa. There is also the ethical issue of the use of dental radiographs being taken for this purpose with no medical or dental justification.

And of course, if they are indeed under 18 or 16 – then where is the consent process? Ageing of deceased individuals for the purpose of identification is, of course, a very different matter, but we must exercise caution over using inaccurate and unethical techniques when psychosocial methods, combined with interviews with experienced social workers, are shown to be more accurate.

A definite need, again, to limit the scope of odontological practice.

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/german-authorities-raise-concern-over-dental-age-estimation/feed/0Secular trend in the maturation of permanent teeth in a sample of Turkish children over the past 30 years.http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/secular-trend-in-the-maturation-of-permanent-teeth-in-a-sample-of-turkish-children-over-the-past-30-years/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/secular-trend-in-the-maturation-of-permanent-teeth-in-a-sample-of-turkish-children-over-the-past-30-years/#respondSun, 17 Jan 2016 11:46:04 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/?p=9848This study was performed to evaluate the influence of secular trends on dental maturation among Turkish children over the past 30 years. Orthopantomograms of 757 (385 boys, 372 girls) Turkish children born in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s were evaluated. Three groups were formed based on decade with five subgroups by age from 9 to 13 years old for each gender. The number of samples in each age group and gender were matched. The mandibular left seven permanent teeth were evaluated based on formation stage to determine the overall dental maturity score. The groups were compared based on decade and gender. The Bonferroni-corrected Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for statistical evaluation. Among 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds born in the 2000s, girls exhibited significantly more mature dentition than did boys (p<0.01, p<0.05, and p<0.05, respectively). Twelve-year-old girls born in the 1990s and 2000s exhibited significantly more mature dentition than did girls born in the 1980s (p<0.01). Girls generally exhibited more mature dentition than boys. No significant positive secular trends in dental maturity were observed from the 1980s through the 2000s. Dental maturation among Turkish children was not affected by a secular trend.

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/secular-trend-in-the-maturation-of-permanent-teeth-in-a-sample-of-turkish-children-over-the-past-30-years/feed/0Dental and chronological age in children under oncological treatment.http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/dental-and-chronological-age-in-children-under-oncological-treatment/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/dental-and-chronological-age-in-children-under-oncological-treatment/#respondSat, 02 Jan 2016 10:41:41 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/?p=9801So one can argue that this is a very small, very specific population studied in this paper. Thankfully, the number of cases of children undergoing cancer therapies such as this is small, and therefore the need to age them for forensic purposes is likely to be incredibly rare.

However, the main piece around this research, published in the Journal of Forensic Science, is that it shows that there are a range of physiological factors that can effect dental maturity – in this case cancer treatments and also BMI. It is therefore likely that physical development and dental development are linked in such populations. What is unclear from this research is if the children, post treatment, caught up with their dental development?

The current oncology treatment has improved the survival of children with several types of cancer, and the effect of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy treatment on dental maturation in comparison with chronological age is not widely known. The aim of this work was to evaluate and compare the impact of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy treatment during dental maturation with chronological age in Chilean children diagnosed with cancer. Study Design was cross-sectional study on children diagnosed with different types of cancer and treated with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy when they were ages of 0.1 to 13 years. Demirjian tables for both girls and boys are used to determine the dental age. The association between chronological and dental age was highly significant. Nevertheless, a linear relation between chronological and dental age was not observed when the data were stratified by BMI and type of treatment. This study confirmed that dental age is an indicator of chronological age but that other variables, such as body mass index, in children with cancer could be confounder variables. Thus, further studies are necessary to investigate the influence of BMI on tooth eruption/maturation in children under oncological treatment.

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/dental-and-chronological-age-in-children-under-oncological-treatment/feed/0Fascinating use of 3D printing for identificationhttp://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/fascinating-use-of-3d-printing-for-identification/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/fascinating-use-of-3d-printing-for-identification/#respondTue, 06 Oct 2015 08:07:53 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/?p=7182The University of South Florida is asking students to help in the resolution of cold cases – by using 3D printing technology to produce models of human skulls that can then be used to undertake facial reconstructions.

Skulls are scanned using CT scanners and the resultant digital files can then be downloaded to remote 3D printers to render close to exact replicas of the skulls. The forensic artists are then able, with tentative information provided by anthropologists to re-create an approximation of the appearance of an individual.

The use of 3D printers avoids the needs for transporting of human remains and addresses many of the issues surrounding the ethics and legal issues of sharing such materials. The use of such technology could also mean that large teaching and training resources could be made available globally.

The National Center recently had success with the accurate rendering in the “Baby Doe” case this summer – in which a toddler was found in a plastic bag on a Massachusetts beach. The reconstruction of the face helped authorities identify the girl – and arrest the mother and her boyfriend in connection with her death. You can read more about this case and the facial reconstruction here, at Forensic Magazine.

Forensic dentists are often involved in the identification of cold cases. The use of post mortem profiling enables, in combination with anthropologists, key elements of the demographics of a missing person to be established. For example, skull features that can indicate that an individual was male will reduce the total population of missing persons to be searched, and if their ethnicity can be established – this further narrows the focus.

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/fascinating-use-of-3d-printing-for-identification/feed/0Remains Of Missing Teen Identified from Teethhttp://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/remains-of-missing-teen-identified-from-teeth/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/remains-of-missing-teen-identified-from-teeth/#respondThu, 01 Oct 2015 11:35:17 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/?p=6981The remains of a teenager who went missing seven years ago have been found in the chimney of an abandoned cabin less than a mile from his home.

Colorado officials have said the details surrounding the death of Joshua Vernon Maddux remain a mystery after his remains were discovered last month in Woodland Park.

Teller County Coroner Al Born ruled a cause of death as accidental, and an autopsy revealed there were so signs of physical injuries such as broken bones or gunshot wounds. It appears to have been a ‘voluntary act to gain access’ to the building, he added.

The 18-year-old is thought to have got stuck after trying to shimmy down the chimney, Mr Born said.

He added: “There was no indication of trauma that we could detect. It was likely accidental because there would be easier ways to commit suicide than climbing down a chimney.”

“There are going to be some questions out there that are unanswerable.”

Toxicology results did not reveal the presence of any drugs.

The teenager’s father, Michel Maddux, said the family has searched for him for years. He was last seen alive on the morning of 8 May, 2008.

He said: “I got up one morning and he was there, then he just never came home.

“We thought he was with friends, but no one had seen him.

“It’s a long-term thing where you’re grieving on hold.”

Chuck Murphy, the owner of the cabin, said it was abandoned but added that mice and chipmunks would occasionally get in and die, leaving a bad smell.

Mr Murphy told The Gazette newspaper the chimney was behind a large piece of furniture.

The remains were discovered when a demolition crew was tearing down the cabin.

Joshua Maddux was identified through dental records and by the missing tip of his right index finger which he lost in a bicycle accident as a child, the coroner said.

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/remains-of-missing-teen-identified-from-teeth/feed/0Forensic considerations when dealing with incinerated human dental remains. Full Texthttp://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/forensic-considerations-when-dealing-with-incinerated-human-dental-remains/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/forensic-considerations-when-dealing-with-incinerated-human-dental-remains/#respondWed, 16 Sep 2015 10:39:58 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/forensic-considerations-when-dealing-with-incinerated-human-dental-remains/Establishing the human dental identification process relies upon sufficient post-mortem data being recovered to allow for a meaningful comparison with ante-mortem records of the deceased person. Teeth are the most indestructible components of the human body and are structurally unique in their composition. They possess the highest resistance to most environmental effects like fire, desiccation, decomposition and prolonged immersion. In most natural as well as man-made disasters, teeth may provide the only means of positive identification of an otherwise unrecognizable body. It is imperative that dental evidence should not be destroyed through erroneous handling until appropriate radiographs, photographs, or impressions can be fabricated. Proper methods of physical stabilization of incinerated human dental remains should be followed. The maintenance of integrity of extremely fragile structures is crucial to the successful confirmation of identity. In such situations, the forensic dentist must stabilise these teeth before the fragile remains are transported to the mortuary to ensure preservation of possibly vital identification evidence. Thus, while dealing with any incinerated dental remains, a systematic approach must be followed through each stage of evaluation of incinerated dental remains to prevent the loss of potential dental evidence. This paper presents a composite review of various studies on incinerated human dental remains and discusses their impact on the process of human identification and suggests a step by step approach.

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/forensic-considerations-when-dealing-with-incinerated-human-dental-remains/feed/0Forensic Odontology: The Roles and Responsibilities of the Dentist – Full Texthttp://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/forensic-odontology-the-roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-dentist-full-text/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/forensic-odontology-the-roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-dentist-full-text/#respondTue, 15 Sep 2015 07:46:46 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/?p=6313This paper is a good overview of the forensic dentist’s job – covering the major aspects of what is required, the source materials and the analysis that is undertaken. Written for a general dental practice audience the authors cover the essential elements.

Dentistry has much to offer law enforcement in the detection and solution of crime or in civil proceedings. Forensic dental fieldwork requires an interdisciplinary knowledge of dental science. Most often the role of the forensic odontologist is to establish a person’s identity. Teeth, with their physiologic variations, pathoses and effects of therapy, record information that remains throughout life and beyond. The teeth may also be used as weapons and, under certain circumstances, may leave information about the identity of the biter. Forensic odontology has an important role in the recognition of abuse among persons of all ages. Dental professionals have a major role to play in keeping accurate dental records and providing all necessary information so that legal authorities may recognize malpractice, negligence, fraud or abuse, and identify unknown humans.

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/forensic-odontology-the-roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-dentist-full-text/feed/0Starting a career in odontologyhttp://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/starting-a-career-in-odontology/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/starting-a-career-in-odontology/#commentsThu, 03 Sep 2015 17:24:59 +0000http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/?p=5938Many people ask – how do I get started and begin a career in odontology? Well there is one simple answer – first you need a dental degree! Having said that, hygenists and therapists also work in forensic dentistry – although this is not widespread, and they cant become members of the AAFS Odontology Section.

Why not watch this webinar hosted by Drs Adam Freeman and Robert Barsley – both senior forensic dentists and Fellows of the AAFS. They take you through the main steps that you should consider when approaching forensic dentistry – but remember, its unlikely to be a full time position – and the hours and attendance at mortuaries often suit those who work part time, in academic positions or who are semi-retired.

All good advice – and why not let us know how you got started in odontology?

]]>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/starting-a-career-in-odontology/feed/1Dental Evidence in Forensic Identification – An Overview, Methodology and Present Status. Full text.http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/dental-evidence-in-forensic-identification-an-overview-methodology-and-present-status/
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/dental-evidence-in-forensic-identification-an-overview-methodology-and-present-status/#respondFri, 28 Aug 2015 11:40:35 +0000https://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/dental-evidence-in-forensic-identification-an-overview-methodology-and-present-status/Forensic odontology is primarily concerned with the use of teeth and oral structures for identification in a legal context. Various forensic odontology techniques help in the identification of the human remains in incidents such as terrorists’ attacks, airplane, train and road accidents, fires, mass murders, and natural disasters such as tsunamis, earth quakes and floods, etc. (Disaster Victim Identification-DVI). Dental structures are the hardest and well protected structures in the body. These structures resist decomposition and high temperatures and are among the last ones to disintegrate after death. The principal basis of the dental identification lies in the fact that no two oral cavities are alike and the teeth are unique to an individual. The dental evidence of the deceased recovered from the scene of crime/occurrence is compared with the ante-mortem records for identification. Dental features such as tooth morphology, variations in shape and size, restorations, pathologies, missing tooth, wear patterns, crowding of the teeth, colour and position of the tooth, rotations and other peculiar dental anomalies give every individual a unique identity. In absence of ante-mortem dental records for comparison, the teeth can help in the determination of age, sex, race/ethnicity, habits, occupations, etc. which can give further clues regarding the identity of the individuals. This piece of writing gives an overview of dental evidence, its use in forensic identification and its limitations.

This Saturday marks 10 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm.

Katrina hit with 127 mile an hour winds between Grand Isle, Louisiana and the mouth of the Mississippi River, leaving a huge path of death and destruction in her wake.

According to FEMA, Katrina is, “the single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history.”

That devastating storm claimed more than a thousand lives in Louisiana and Mississippi.

As part of the Disaster Mortuary Occupational Response Team, Doctor Shanon Kirchhoff, a Cape Girardeau orthodontist, spent two weeks in New Orleans performing forensic dentistry on the victims of Hurricane Katrina, bringing closure to hundreds of families.

“I recall almost every victim that I ID’d or at least tried to ID,” said Dr. Shanon Kirchhoff.

Kirchhoff volunteered to do a job not many would jump at the chance to do. He said when he got the call to go to New Orleans, he was sent to one of the hardest hit areas: the lower 9th Ward.

“There was mattresses turned over and mud and sludge and the water had petroleum in it and sewage,” he explained.

It was also one of the most dangerous areas.

“We were there for an hour or two and finally the cops that escorted us in started putting on their bullet-proof jackets going, ‘It’s time to go home, we have to go through three red zones.’ We were like, ‘What’s a red zone?’”

He said Red Zones, as they later found out, were the locations where people were at risk of being shot at by locals protecting their stuff, or wanna-be robbers.

His team set up a secret morgue inside a warehouse in St. Gabriel. They would sleep inside the Rec center at the nearby college.

“I didn’t know what to expect, no one knew what to expect. We thought we would be staying in a hotel but there weren’t any,” he said.

Then it was time to work. During 12 hour days, Kirchhoff and the forensic dental team x-rayed the victims’ mouths. The findings would later be matched with their dental records.

Dr. Kirchhoff would help examine hundreds of victims.

“It made me appreciate it more because I saw the consequences of mass death and that just makes you reflect on life and death and what it means to you. It is a different set of circumstances, but it reminds you the importance of family,” he said.

Dr. Kirchhoff said he never expected the trip to be so life changing and bring him closer to his family.

He also volunteered as a forensic dentist following the tornado in Joplin, Missouri where he helped identify all 153 victims.